Toyota Elephant Passage Field Trip Discovery Units

Denver Zoo has created a Toyota Elephant Passage Field Trip Curriculum featuring eleven grade-specific discovery units for preschool through fifth grade. Each grade level offers a standards-aligned life science unit, and some grades also offer a standards-aligned social studies unit.

For teachers planning field trips to Toyota Elephant Passage: Please be aware that the flying foxes, reptiles and amphibians in Toyota Elephant Passage are currently not viewable, and make adjustments to your field trip as necessary. Similar species can be viewed in Tropical Discovery as an alternative.

Pre-K

AMAZING ANIMALS

This life science curriculum focuses on the guiding question:What makes animals similar and different?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standard:Science 2.1: Living things have characteristics and basic needs

Kindergarten

COMPARING CREATURES

This life science curriculum focuses on the guiding question:How can we describe, sort, compare, and contrast animals?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standard:Science 2.1: Organisms can be described and sorted by their physical characteristics.

CREATURE CONNECTIONS

This social studies curriculum focuses on the guiding question:What connections do people have with animals?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standard:Social Studies 2.1: People belong to different groups and live in different places around the world that can be found on a map or globe.

1ST GRADE

AWESOME ADAPTATIONS

This life science curriculum focuses on the guiding question:How do characteristics help animals survive?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standard:Science 2.1: An organism is a living thing that has physical characteristics to help it survive.

APPRECIATING ANIMALS

This social studies curriculum focuses on the guiding question:How do people here and around the world connect with animals?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standard:Social Studies 2.2: People in different groups and communities interact with each other and with the environment.

2ND GRADE

HABITATS ARE HOMES

This life science curriculum focuses on the guiding question:What do living things (animals, plants, and people) need to survive?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standards:Science 2.1: Organisms depend on their habitat's nonliving parts to satisfy their needs.Science 2.2: Each plant or animal has different structures or behaviors that serve different functions.

3RD GRADE

ANIMALS AROUND THE WORLD

This social studies curriculum focuses on the guiding question:How do animals contribute to a region’s uniqueness?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standard:Social Studies 2.2: The concept of regions is developed through an understanding of similarities and differences in places.

CARING FOR LIFE CYCLES

This life science curriculum focuses on the guiding question:How do zoos properly manage and enhance the well-being of animals' life cycles?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standard:The duration and timing of life cycle events such as reproduction and longevity vary across organisms and species.

4TH GRADE

TREKKING THROUGH TROPICAL ASIA

This life science curriculum focuses on the guiding question:How are Asian tropical ecosystems similar to and different from other ecosystems around the world, including those in Colorado?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standard:Science 2.3: There is interaction and interdependence between and among living and nonliving components of ecosystems.

OUR ECO CONNECTIONS

This social studies curriculum focuses on the guiding question:What roles do ecosystems play in human communities in tropical Asia and Colorado?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standard:SSocial Studies 2.2: Connections within and across human and physical systems are developed.

5TH GRADE

HEALTHY HUMAN, HEALTHY ANIMAL

This life science curriculum focuses on the guiding question:How can the management of healthy systems of animas in the exhibit be compared and contrasted to that of managing healthy systems of humans?

The unit focuses on the following Colorado Academic Standards:Science 2.1: All organisms have structures and systems with separate functions.Science 2.2: Human body systems have basic structures, functions and needs.